Order of Australia

Appointments to the order are made by the governor-general, "with the approval of The Sovereign",^[a] according to recommendations made by the Council for the Order of Australia.^[4] Members of the government are not involved in the recommendation of appointments, other than for military and honorary awards.


The Monarch of Australia is sovereign head of the order,^[2][5] while the Governor-General of Australia is the principal companion and chancellor of the order. The governor-general's official secretary, Paul Singer (appointed August 2018), is secretary of the order.

Insignia[edit]

The order's insignia was designed by Stuart Devlin.


The badge of the Order of Australia is a convex disc (gold for AKs, ADs and ACs, gilt for AOs, AMs and OAMs) representing a single flower of mimosa. At the centre is a ring, representing the sea, with the word Australia below two branches of mimosa. The whole disc is topped by the Crown of St Edward. The AC badge is decorated with citrines, blue enamelled ring, and enamelled crown. The AO badge is similar, without the citrines. For the AM badge, only the crown is enamelled, and the OAM badge is plain. The AK/AD badge is similar to that of the AC badge, but with the difference that it contains at the centre an enamelled disc bearing an image of the coat of arms of Australia.^{[note 1]} The colours of royal blue and gold are taken from the livery colours of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the then national colours.


The star for knights and dames is a convex golden disc decorated with citrines, with a blue royally crowned inner disc bearing an image of the coat of arms of Australia.


The ribbon of the order is royal blue with a central stripe of mimosa blossoms. Awards in the military division are edged with 1.5 mm golden bands.^[10] AKs, male ACs and AOs wear their badges on a necklet and male AMs and OAMs wear them on a ribbon on the left chest. Women usually wear their badges on a bow on the left shoulder, although they may wear the same insignia as males if so desired.


A gold lapel pin for daily wear is issued with each badge of the order at the time of investiture; AK/AD and AC lapel pins feature a citrine central jewel, AO and AM lapel pins have a blue enamelled centre and OAM lapel pins are plain.

Membership[edit]

The order currently consists of four levels (one discontinued) and the medal, in both general and military divisions. Since 2015, the knight/dame level has been discontinued on the advice of then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. Awards of knight and dame of the order were made in the general division only.^{[note 3]}